Tim Burton
Burton in 2012
Born	Timothy Walter Burton (1958-08-25) August 25, 1958 (age 60) Burbank, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Burbank High School
Alma mater	California Institute of the Arts
Occupation	Film director, film producer, writer, artist
Years active	1971–present
Known for	Gothic and dark fantasy films
Spouse(s)	Lena Gieseke (m. 1987; div. 1991)
Partner(s)	Lisa Marie Smith (1993–2001) Helena Bonham Carter (2001–2014)
Children	2 (with Bonham Carter)
Awards	See below
Website	timburton.com

Timothy Walter Burton^[1] (born August 25, 1958) is an American film director, producer, artist, writer, and animator. He is known for his dark, gothic, and eccentric horror and fantasy films such as Beetlejuice (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Ed Wood (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Dark Shadows (2012), and Frankenweenie (2012). He is also known for blockbusters such as the adventure comedy Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), the superhero films Batman (1989) and its first sequel Batman Returns (1992), the sci-fi film Planet of the Apes (2001), the fantasy drama Big Fish (2003), the musical adventure film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and the fantasy film Alice in Wonderland (2010).

Burton has often worked with Johnny Depp and Danny Elfman, who has composed scores for all but three of the films Burton has directed. Helena Bonham Carter, Burton's former domestic partner, has appeared in many of his films. He wrote and illustrated the poetry book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories, published in 1997 by Faber and Faber and a compilation of his drawings, sketches and other artwork, entitled The Art of Tim Burton, was released in 2009. A follow-up to The Art of Tim Burton, entitled The Napkin Art of Tim Burton: Things You Think About in a Bar, containing sketches made by Burton in napkins at bars and restaurants he occasionally visits, was released in 2015.

Early life[edit]

Burton was born in 1958, in Burbank, California, the son of Jean Burton (née Erickson), later the owner of a cat-themed gift shop, and William "Bill" Burton, a former minor league baseball player who was working for the Burbank Parks and Recreation Department.^[2][3] As a preteen, Burton would make short films in his backyard on Evergreen Street using crude stop motion animation techniques or shoot them on 8 mm film without sound (one of his oldest known juvenile films is The Island of Doctor Agor, which he made when he was 13 years old). Burton attended Providencia Elementary School in Burbank. Burton went to Burbank High School, but he was not a particularly good student. He played on the water polo team at Burbank High. Burton was an introspective person and found pleasure in painting, drawing and watching movies. His future work would be heavily influenced by the works of such childhood heroes as Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl.^[4] After graduating from Burbank High School, Burton attended the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California, to study character animation.^[5] As a student at CalArts, Burton made the shorts Stalk of the Celery Monster and King and Octopus.^[6]

Early career: 1980s[edit]

Stalk of the Celery Monster attracted the attention of Walt Disney Productions' animation division, which offered Burton an animator's apprenticeship at the studio.^[5] He worked as an animator, storyboard artist and concept artist on films such as The Fox and the Hound (1981), Tron (1982) and The Black Cauldron (1985). His concept art never made it into the finished films.

While at Disney in 1982, Burton made his first short, Vincent, a six-minute black-and-white stop motion film based on a poem written by the filmmaker, and depicting a young boy who fantasizes that he is his hero Vincent Price, with Price himself providing narration. The film was produced by Rick Heinrichs, whom Burton had befriended while working in the concept art department at Disney. The film was shown at the Chicago Film Festival and released, alongside the teen drama Tex, for two weeks in one Los Angeles cinema. This was followed by Burton's first live-action production Hansel and Gretel, a Japanese-themed adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale for the Disney Channel, which climaxes in a kung fu fight between Hansel and Gretel and the witch. Having aired once in 1983 at 10:30 pm on Halloween and promptly shelved, prints of the film are extremely difficult to locate, fueling rumors that the project did not exist. The short would finally go on public display in 2009 at the Museum of Modern Art, and again in 2011 as part of the Tim Burton art exhibit at LACMA.^[7][8] It was again shown at the Seoul Museum of Art in 2012.^[9]

Burton's next live-action short, Frankenweenie, was released in 1984. It tells the story of a young boy who tries to revive his dog after it is run over by a car. Filmed in black-and-white, it stars Barret Oliver, Shelley Duvall (with whom he would work again in 1986, directing an episode of her Faerie Tale Theatre) and Daniel Stern. After Frankenweenie was completed, Disney fired Burton, under the pretext of him spending the company's resources on doing a film that would be too dark and scary for children to see.^[10]

Pee-wee's Big Adventure[edit]

Actor Paul Reubens saw Vincent^[when?] and chose Burton to direct the cinematic spin-off of his popular character Pee-wee Herman. Pee-wee Herman gained mainstream popularity with a successful stage show at The Groundlings and the Roxy which was later turned into an HBO special. The film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, was made on a budget of $8 million and grossed more than $40 million at the North American box office. Burton, a fan of the eccentric musical group Oingo Boingo, asked songwriter Danny Elfman to provide the music for the film. Since then, Elfman has scored every film that Tim Burton has directed, except for Ed Wood (because of a falling out that they had^[11]), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (because the music was based on Stephen Sondheim's musical) and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

Beetlejuice[edit]

After directing episodes for the revitalized version of '50s/'60s anthology horror series Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre, Burton directed his next big project: Beetlejuice (1988), a supernatural comedy horror about a young couple forced to cope with life after death, and the family of pretentious yuppies who invade their treasured New England home. Their teenage daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) has an obsession with death which allows her to see the deceased couple. Starring Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, and featuring Michael Keaton as the obnoxious bio-exorcist Beetlejuice, the film grossed $80 million on a relatively low budget and won an Academy Award for Best Makeup. It would be converted into a cartoon of the same name, with Burton playing a role as executive producer, that ran on ABC and later Fox.

Batman[edit]

Burton's ability to produce hits with low budgets impressed studio executives, and he received his first big budget film, Batman. The production was plagued with problems. Burton repeatedly clashed with the film's producers, Jon Peters and Peter Guber, but the most notable debacle involved casting. For the title role, Burton chose to cast Michael Keaton as Batman following their previous collaboration in Beetlejuice, despite Keaton's average physique, inexperience with action films, and reputation as a comic actor. Although Burton won in the end, the furor over the casting provoked enormous fan animosity, to the extent that Warner Brothers' share price slumped.^{[citation needed]} Burton had considered it ridiculous to cast a "bulked-up" ultra-masculine man as Batman, insisting that Batman should be an ordinary man who dressed up in an elaborate bat costume to frighten criminals. Burton cast Jack Nicholson as The Joker (Tim Curry being his second choice) in a move that helped assuage fans' fears, as well as attracting older audiences not as interested in a superhero film.^{[citation needed]}

When the film opened in June 1989, it was backed by the biggest marketing and merchandising campaign in film history at the time, and became one of the biggest box office hits of all time, grossing over US$250 million in the U.S. and $400 million worldwide (numbers not adjusted for inflation) and earning critical acclaim for the performances of both Keaton and Nicholson, as well as the film's production aspects, which won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction. The success of the film helped establish Burton as a profitable director, and it proved to be a huge influence on future superhero films, which eschewed the bright, all-American heroism of Richard Donner's Superman for a grimmer, more realistic look and characters with more psychological depth. It also became a major inspiration for the successful 1990s cartoon Batman: The Animated Series, in as much as the darkness of the picture and its sequel allowed for a darker Batman on television.

Burton claimed that the graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke was a major influence on his film adaptation of Batman:

I was never a giant comic book fan, but I've always loved the image of Batman and the Joker. The reason I've never been a comic book fan – and I think it started when I was a child – is because I could never tell which box I was supposed to read. I don't know if it was dyslexia or whatever, but that's why I loved The Killing Joke, because for the first time I could tell which one to read. It's my favorite. It's the first comic I've ever loved. And the success of those graphic novels made our ideas more acceptable.^[12]

1990s[edit]

Edward Scissorhands[edit]

In 1990, Burton co-wrote (with Caroline Thompson) and directed Edward Scissorhands, re-uniting with Winona Ryder from Beetlejuice. His friend Johnny Depp, a teen idol at the end of the 1980s due primarily to his work on the hit TV series 21 Jump Street, was cast in the title role of Edward, who was the creation of an eccentric and old-fashioned inventor (played by Vincent Price in one of his last screen appearances). Edward looked human, but was left with scissors in the place of hands due to the untimely death of his creator. Set in suburbia (and shot in Lakeland, Florida), the film is largely seen as Burton's autobiography of his childhood in Burbank. Burton's idea^[13] for the character of Edward Scissorhands came from a drawing he created in high school. Depp wrote a similar comment in the foreword to Mark Salisbury's book, Burton on Burton, regarding his first meeting with Burton over the casting of the film. Edward Scissorhands is considered one of Burton's best movies by some critics.^[14] Burton says this is his most personable and meaningful film because it's a representation of him not being able to communicate effectively with others as a teenager. Following this collaboration with Burton, Depp starred in Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Alice in Wonderland, and Dark Shadows.

In 2004, Matthew Bourne came to Burton with the idea to turn the story of Edward into a ballet. In 2005, the ballet first aired. It has toured the UK, the U.S., Canada, Australia and parts
of Europe.

Batman Returns[edit]

The day Warner Brothers declined to make the more personal Films, after the success of Batman, Burton agreed to direct the sequel for Warner Brothers on the condition that he would be granted total control. The result was Batman Returns, which featured Michael Keaton returning as Batman, and a new triad of villains: Danny DeVito (as the Penguin), Michelle Pfeiffer (as Catwoman) and Christopher Walken (as Max Shreck, an evil corporate tycoon and original character created for the film). Darker and considerably more personal than its predecessor, concerns were raised that the film was too scary for children. Audiences were more uncomfortable at the film's overt sexuality, personified by the sleek, fetish-inspired styling of Catwoman's costume. One critic remarked, "too many villains spoiled the Batman", highlighting Burton's decision to focus the storyline more on the villains instead of Batman. The film also polarized the fanbase, with some loving the darkness and quirkiness, while others felt it was not true to the core aspects of the source material. Burton made many changes to the Penguin which would subsequently be applied to the character in both comics and television. While in the comics, he was an ordinary man, Burton created a freak of nature resembling a penguin with webbed, flipper-like fingers, a hooked, beak-like nose, and a penguin-like body (resulting in a rotund, obese man). Released in 1992, Batman Returns grossed $282.8 million worldwide, making it financial success, though not to the extent of its predecessor.

The Nightmare Before Christmas[edit]

Burton produced, but did not direct, due to schedule constraints on Batman Returns, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) for Disney, originally meant to be a children's book in rhyme. The film was directed by Henry Selick and written by Caroline Thompson, based on Burton's original story, world and characters. The film received positive reviews for the stop motion animation, musical score and original storyline. It was a box office success, grossing $50 million.Because of the ruling nature of the film, it was not produced under Disney's name, but rather Disney owned Touchstone Pictures. Disney also fought for the protagonist to have eyes,^[15] which was a fight they did not win in the end. There were over 100 people working on this movie just to create the characters. Along with the 3 years of work it took to produce the movie.^[16] Burton collaborated with Selick again for James and the Giant Peach (1996), which Burton co-produced.

Jack Skellington, the protagonist of the film, was so popular that it later resurfaced in Selick's film James and the Giant Peach, and then again in a small scene in Coraline where the Other Mother is cooking, viewers are able to see Jack's familiar head in the shell of an egg.

Cabin Boy[edit]

In 1994, Burton and frequent co-producer Denise Di Novi produced the 1994 fantasy-comedy Cabin Boy, starring comedian Chris Elliott and directed/written by Adam Resnick. Burton was originally supposed to direct the film after seeing Elliott perform on Get a Life, but handed the directing responsibility to Resnick once he was offered Ed Wood. The reception to the film was mixed. Chris Elliott won a 1995 Razzie Award for "Worst New Star" with his performance.^[17] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 21 out of 100, but has a 45% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating more mixed contemporary reviews.

Ed Wood[edit]

Burton's next film, Ed Wood (1994), was of a much smaller scale, depicting the life of Ed Wood, a filmmaker sometimes called "the worst director of all time". Starring Johnny Depp in the title role, the film is an homage to the low-budget science fiction and horror films of Burton's childhood, and handles its comical protagonist and his motley band of collaborators with surprising fondness and sensitivity. Owing to creative squabbles during the making of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Danny Elfman declined to score Ed Wood, and the assignment went to Howard Shore. While a commercial failure at the time of its release, Ed Wood was well received by critics. Martin Landau received an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi, and the film received the award for Best Makeup.

Batman Forever[edit]

Despite Burton's intention to still lead the Batman franchise, Warner Bros. considered Batman Returns too dark and unsafe for children. To attract the young audience, it was decided that Joel Schumacher, who had directed films like The Client, lead the third film, while Burton would only produce it in conjunction with Peter MacGregor-Scott. Following this change and the changes made by the new director, Michael Keaton resigned from the lead role and was replaced by Val Kilmer. Filming began in late 1994 with new actors: Tommy Lee Jones as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian, Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson/Robin and Jim Carrey as Edward Nygma/ The Riddler; the only two actors who returned were Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon and Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth. The film, a combination of the darkness that characterized the saga and colors and neon signs proposed by Schumacher, was a huge box office success, earning $336 million, in spite of the controversy over the characters and plot. Warner Bros. demanded that Schumacher delete some scenes so the film did not have the same tone as its predecessor, Batman Returns (later they were added as deleted scenes on the 2005 DVD release).

James and the Giant Peach[edit]

In 1996, Burton and Selick reunited for the musical fantasy James and the Giant Peach, based on the book by Roald Dahl. The film, a combination of live action and stop motion footage, starred Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Sarandon, David Thewlis, Simon Callow and Jane Leeves among others, with Burton producing and Selick directing. The film was mostly praised by critics, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (by Randy Newman).

The book on which the film was based contains magical elements and references to drugs and alcohol.^[18] The book has all the hallmarks of a classic children's fantasy: a young boy embarking on a great adventure overcoming evil forces and enlisting the help of talking creatures. Roald Dahl, the publisher of the book was inspired by his own apple orchard that would grow very big. "What would happen if it didn't stop growing?" was the question Dahl asked himself.^[19]

Mars Attacks![edit]

Elfman and Burton reunited for Mars Attacks! (1996). Based on a popular science fiction trading card series, the film was a hybrid of 1950s science fiction and 1970s all-star disaster films. Coincidence made it an inadvertent spoof of the blockbuster Independence Day, which had been released five months earlier. The film boasted an all-star cast, including Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, Pierce Brosnan, Michael J. Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker, Natalie Portman, Lukas Haas, Martin Short, Rod Steiger, Christina Applegate and Jack Black.

Superman Lives[edit]

After Kevin Smith had been hired to write a new Superman film, he suggested Burton to direct.^[20] Burton came on and Warner Bros. set a theatrical release date for the summer of 1998, the 60th anniversary of the character's debut in Action Comics.^[21]Nicolas Cage was signed on to play Superman, Burton hired Wesley Strick to rewrite Smith's script and the film entered pre-production in June 1997. For budgetary reasons, Warner Bros. ordered another rewrite from Dan Gilroy, delayed the film and ultimately put it on hold in April 1998. Burton then left to direct Sleepy Hollow.^[21] Burton has depicted the experience as a difficult one, citing differences with producer Jon Peters and the studio, stating, "I basically wasted a year. A year is a long time to be working with somebody that you don't really want to be working with."^[22]

Sleepy Hollow[edit]

Sleepy Hollow, released in late 1999, had a supernatural setting and contained another offbeat performance by Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane, a detective with an interest in forensic science rather than the schoolteacher of Washington Irving's original tale. With Sleepy Hollow, Burton paid homage to the horror films of the English company Hammer Films. Christopher Lee, one of Hammer's stars, was given a cameo role. A host of Burton regulars appeared in supporting roles (Michael Gough, Jeffrey Jones and Christopher Walken, among others) and Christina Ricci was cast as Katrina van Tassel. A well-regarded supporting cast was headed by Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Richard Griffiths and Ian McDiarmid. Mostly well received by critics, and with a special mention to Elfman's gothic score, the film won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction, as well as two BAFTAs for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. A box office success, Sleepy Hollow was also a turning point for Burton. Along with change in his personal life (separation from actress Lisa Marie), Burton changed radically in style for his next project, leaving the haunted forests and colorful outcasts behind to go on to directing Planet of the Apes which, as Burton had repeatedly noted, was "not a remake" of the earlier film.

2000s[edit]

Tim Burton at the 64th Venice Film Festival

Planet of the Apes[edit]

Planet of the Apes was a commercial success, grossing $68 million in its opening weekend. The film has received mixed reviews and is widely considered inferior to the first adaptation of the novel.

Big Fish[edit]

In 2003, Burton directed Big Fish, based on the novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace. The film is about a father telling the story of his life to his son using exaggeration and color. Starring Ewan McGregor as young Edward Bloom and Albert Finney as an older Edward Bloom, the film also stars Jessica Lange, Billy Crudup, Danny DeVito, Alison Lohman and Marion Cotillard. Big Fish is also notable as Miley Cyrus' first film—she plays "Young Ruthie" credited under her birth name, Destiny Hope Cyrus. Big Fish received four Golden Globe nominations as well as an Academy Award nomination for Elfman's score. Big Fish was also the second collaboration between Burton and Helena Bonham Carter, who played the characters of Jenny and the Witch.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory[edit]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Roald Dahl. Starring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket and Deep Roy as the Oompa-Loompas, the film generally took a more faithful approach to the source material than the 1971 adaptation, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, although some liberties were taken, such as adding Wonka's issue with his father (played by Christopher Lee). Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. The film made over $207 million domestically. Filming proved difficult as Burton, Depp, and Danny Elfman had to work on this and Burton's Corpse Bride at the same time.

Corpse Bride[edit]

Corpse Bride (2005) was Burton's first full-length stop motion film as a director, featuring the voices of Johnny Depp as Victor and Helena Bonham Carter (for whom the project was specifically created) as Emily in the lead roles. In this film, Burton was able again to use his familiar styles and trademarks, such as the complex interaction between light and darkness, and of being caught between two irreconcilable worlds.

The Killers[edit]

"Bones" (2006) was the first music video Burton directed. The song "Bones" is the sixth overall single by American indie rock band The Killers, the second released from their second studio album, Sam's Town. Starring in this video were actors Michael Steger and Devon Aoki. Also featured in the video are scenes from films like Creature from the Black Lagoon, Jason and the Argonauts and Lolita.

The band, as well as Steger and Aoki, change temporarily into partial CG skeletal versions of themselves, before becoming complete skeletons by the end of the video. At the 2007 Shockwaves NME Awards, it won the award for Best Video.

Burton went to direct a second music video for The Killers, starring Winona Ryder.^[23]

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street[edit]

Tim Burton (right) and Pedro Almodóvar (left) at the première of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Madrid, in 2007

The DreamWorks/Warner Bros. production was released on December 21, 2007. Burton's work on Sweeney Todd won the National Board of Review Award for Best Director,^[24] received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director^[25] and won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction. Helena Bonham Carter won an Evening Standard British Film Award for her portrayal of Mrs. Lovett, as well as a Golden Globe nomination. The film blends explicit gore and Broadway tunes, and was well received by critics. Johnny Depp was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for the role of Sweeney Todd. Depp also won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy, as well as the award for Best Villain as Todd in the 2008 MTV Awards.

9[edit]

In 2005, filmmaker Shane Acker released his short film 9, a story about a sentient rag doll living in a post-apocalyptic world who tries to stop machines from destroying the rest of his eight fellow rag dolls. The film won numerous awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. After seeing the short film, Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, director of Wanted, showed interest in producing a feature-length adaptation of the film. Directed by Acker, the full-length film was produced by Burton, written by Acker (story) and Pamela Pettler (screenplay, co-writer of Corpse Bride) and featured the voice work of Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau and Crispin Glover, among others.

2010s[edit]

Tim Burton speaking about 9 at Comic-Con, 2009.

Alice in Wonderland[edit]

In Burton's version, the story is set 13 years after the original Lewis Carroll tales. Mia Wasikowska was cast as Alice. The original start date was May 2008.^[26]Torpoint and Plymouth were the locations used for filming from September 1 – October 14, and the film remains set in the Victorian era. During this time, filming took place in Antony House in Torpoint.^[27] 250 local extras were chosen in early August.^[28][29] Other production work took place in London.^[30] The film was originally to be released in 2009, but was pushed to March 5, 2010.^[31] Johnny Depp plays the Mad Hatter, while Matt Lucas is both Tweedledee and Tweedledum; Helena Bonham Carter portrays the Red Queen; Stephen Fry is the Cheshire Cat; Anne Hathaway stars as the White Queen; Alan Rickman voices Absolem the Caterpillar, Michael Sheen voices McTwisp the White Rabbit and Crispin Glover's head and voice were added onto a CGI body to play the Knave of Hearts.

Tim Burton appeared at the 2009 Comic-Con in San Diego, California, to promote both 9 and Alice in Wonderland. When asked about the filmmaking process by an attendee, he mentioned his "imaginary friend" who helps him out, prompting Johnny Depp to walk on stage to the applause of the audience. The film won two Academy Awards, for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

Dark Shadows[edit]

Burton's film Dark Shadows once again starred Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in leading roles. The film was based on the original Dark Shadows gothic soap opera, which aired on ABC from 1966 to 1971. Other members of the cast included Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Bella Heathcote, Gulliver McGrath and Chloë Grace Moretz. Filming began in April 2011, with the film released on May 11, 2012. Danny Elfman once again composed and conducted the score and soundtrack for the film, and Colleen Atwood was the costume designer. It has received mixed reviews from critics, some of whom think it is a tongue-in-cheek gothic comedy, visually appealing and fitting as an adaptation of the melodramatic soap opera, whereas others think the film has a very loose plot, is not particularly humorous, and that Burton and Depp's collaborative efforts have worn thin.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter[edit]

Burton co-produced Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, with Timur Bekmambetov, who also served as director (they previously worked together in 9). The film, released on June 22, 2012, was based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also wrote the film's screenplay and also authored Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The film starred Benjamin Walker as Abraham Lincoln, Anthony Mackie as William H. Johnson, Joseph Mawle as Lincoln's father Thomas, Robin McLeavy as Lincoln's mother Nancy and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lincoln's love interest (and later wife) Mary Ann Todd. It received mixed reviews.^[32][33]

Frankenweenie[edit]

Burton remade his 1984 short film Frankenweenie as a feature-length stop motion film, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.^[34] He has said, "The film is based on a memory that I had when I was growing up and with my relationship with a dog that I had."^[35] The film was released on October 5, 2012, and met with positive reviews.^[36]

Big Eyes[edit]

Burton directed the 2014 biographical drama film Big Eyes about American artist Margaret Keane (Amy Adams), whose work was fraudulently claimed in the 1950s and 1960s by her then-husband, Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz), and their heated divorce trial after Margaret accused Walter of stealing credit for her paintings. The script was written by the screenwriters behind Burton's Ed Wood, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. The film, pitched a few years earlier, was intended to be directed by Alexander and Karaszewski and produced by Burton, featuring Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds as its leads. Filming began in Vancouver, British Columbia, in mid-2013. The film was distributed by The Weinstein Company and released in U.S. theaters on December 25, 2014. It received generally positive reviews from critics.^[37][38]

Alice Through the Looking Glass[edit]

Burton produced the sequel to Alice in Wonderland, titled Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016).^[39]

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children[edit]

Burton directed an adaptation of Ransom Riggs' book Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which was released in September 2016, starring Asa Butterfield and Eva Green, in her second Burton film.^[40]

Dumbo[edit]

Burton is in principal production on a live action adaptation of Dumbo, with Colin Farrell, Danny DeVito, Eva Green and Michael Keaton starring.

Future projects[edit]

In July 2012, following the release of both Dark Shadows and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, it was reported that screenwriter and novelist Seth Grahame-Smith is working alongside Tim Burton on a potential Beetlejuice sequel. Actor Michael Keaton has also expressed interest in reprising his role as the title character along with Winona Ryder.^[41][42]

Unrealized projects[edit]

In 2001, The Walt Disney Company began to consider producing a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas, but rather than using stop motion, Disney wanted to use computer animation.^[43] Burton convinced Disney to drop the idea. "I was always very protective of Nightmare not to do sequels or things of that kind," Burton explained. "You know, 'Jack visits Thanksgiving world' or other kinds of things just because I felt the movie had a purity to it and the people that like it... Because it's a mass-market kind of thing, it was important to kind of keep that purity of it."^[44] Regardless, in 2009, Henry Selick stated that he could make a sequel to Nightmare if he and Burton could create a good story for it.^[45]

In 2012, Shane Acker confirmed that Burton will work with Valve Corporation to create his next animated feature film, Deep. Like 9, the film will take place in a post-apocalyptic world (although set in a different universe). Deep will be another darker animated film, as Shane Acker has expressed his interest in creating more PG-13 animated films.^[46] Since then, there have been no further mentions of Deep, with Acker focusing on another project announced in 2013 (Beasts of Burden).^[47][48]

On January 19, 2010, it was announced that after Dark Shadows, Burton's next project would be Maleficent, a Wicked-like film that showed the origin and the past of Sleeping Beauty's antagonist Maleficent. In an interview with Fandango published February 23, 2010, however, he denied he was directing any upcoming Sleeping Beauty film.^[49] However, on November 23, 2010, in an interview with MTV, Burton confirmed that he was indeed putting together a script for Maleficent.^[50] It was announced by The Hollywood Reporter on May 16, 2011, that Burton was no longer attached to Maleficent.^[51]

It was reported that Burton would direct a 3D stop motion animation adaptation of The Addams Family, which was confirmed by Christopher Meledandri,^[52] but the project was scrapped on July 17, 2013.^[53] On July 19, 2010, he was announced as the director of the upcoming film adaptation of Monsterpocalypse.^[54]

In 2011, it reported that Burton was working on a live-action adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, featuring Josh Brolin, who would also be co-producing. The project did not move forward.^[55][56]

Personal life[edit]

Burton was married to Lena Gieseke, a German-born artist. Their marriage ended in 1991 after four years.^[57] He went on to live with model and actress Lisa Marie; she acted in the films he made during their relationship from 1992 to 2001, most notably in Ed Wood and Mars Attacks!. Burton developed a romantic relationship with English actress Helena Bonham Carter, whom he met while filming Planet of the Apes. Marie responded in 2005 by holding an auction of personal belongings that Burton had left behind, much to his dismay.^[58]

Burton and Bonham Carter have two children: a son, Billy Raymond, named after his and Bonham Carter's fathers, born in 2003; and a daughter, Nell, born in 2007.^[59] Bonham Carter's representative said in December 2014 that she and Burton had broken up amicably earlier that year.^[60]

Close friend Johnny Depp is a godfather of both of Burton's children. In Depp's introduction to Burton on Burton, he writes, "What more can I say about him? He is a brother, a friend, my godson's father. He is a unique and brave soul, someone that I would go to the ends of the earth for, and I know, full and well, he would do the same for me."

On March 15, 2010, Burton received the insignia of Chevalier of Arts and Letters from then-Minister of Culture Frédéric Mitterrand.^[61]

Burton was the President of the Jury for the 63rd annual Cannes Film Festival, held from May 12 to 24, 2010 in Cannes, France.^[62]

Burton has stated that his favorite films are Dracula A.D. 1972, The Wicker Man, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The War of the Gargantuas and The Omega Man.^[63]

Fandom[edit]

On May 20, 2017, a Tim Burton-themed bar named Beetle House LA opened in Hollywood, California.^[64]

Frequent collaborators[edit]

Burton regularly casts the same actors in his film projects. Johnny Depp has been in nine of his films, while ex-partner Helena Bonham Carter has been in seven and Christopher Lee in six.^[65]

Exhibitions[edit]

From November 22, 2009 to April 26, 2010, Burton had a retrospective at the MoMA in New York with over 700 "drawings, paintings, photographs, storyboards, moving-image works, puppets, maquettes, costumes and cinematic ephemera", including many from the filmmaker's personal collection.^[66] The show also included his amateur and student films, music videos, commercials and digital slide shows, as well as a complete set of features and shorts.^{[citation needed]}

From MoMA the "Tim Burton" exhibition traveled directly to Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne. Running from June 24 to October 10, 2010, the ACMI exhibition incorporated additional material from Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which was released in March 2010.^[67]

The exhibition was displayed at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from November 26, 2010, to April 17, 2011. It was accompanied by several personal appearances by Burton as well as a retrospective of his films.

"The Art of Tim Burton" was exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from May 29 to October 31, 2011, in the Museum's Resnick Pavilion.^[68] LACMA also featured six films of Tim Burton's idol,^[69] Vincent Price, for the anniversary of what would have been the actor's 100th birthday during the closing weekend of the Exhibit.

"Tim Burton, the exhibition/Tim Burton, l'exposition" was exhibited at the Cinémathèque Française from March 7 to August 5, 2012, in Paris, France.^[70] All Tim Burton's movies are programmed during the exhibition.

"Tim Burton at Seoul Museum of Art" was exhibited as a promotion of Hyundai Card at Seoul Museum of Art from December 12, 2012, to April 15, 2013, in Seoul, South Korea.^[71] This exhibition featured 862 of his works including drawings, paintings, short films, sculptures, music and costumes that have been used in the making of his feature-length movies. The exhibition was divided into three parts: the first part, "Surviving Burbank", covered his younger years, from 1958 to 1976. The second, "Beautifying Burbank", covers 1977 to 1984, including his time with CalArts and Walt Disney. The last segment, "Beyond Burbank", covers 1985 onward.^[72]

"Tim Burton and His World" was exhibited at the Stone Bell House from March 3 to August 8, 2014, in Prague, Czech Republic.^[73]

The exhibition later premiered at the Museu da Imagem e do Som in São Paulo, Brazil, on February 4, 2016, and lasted until June 5.^[74]

The exhibition later held in Artis Tree in Taikoo Place, Hong Kong, from 5 November 2016 to 23 January 2017.^[75]

Filmography[edit]

Awards[edit]

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Academy Awards[edit]

Golden Globe Awards[edit]

BAFTA Awards[edit]

Saturn Awards[edit]

Other awards[edit]

Emmy Award

• (1990) Won—Outstanding Children's Animated Program / Beetlejuice
  

Cannes Film Festival

• (1994) Nominated—Palme d'Or / Ed Wood
  

National Board of Review Awards

• (2008) Won – Best Director / Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
  

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

• (2004) Nominated—Best Director / Big Fish
  

Producers Guild of America Awards

• (2006) Nominated—Animated Motion Picture / Corpse Bride
  


• (2008) Honored—Scream Awards: Scream Immortal Award, for his unique interpretation of horror and fantasy


• (2009) Won—Best Producer / 9
  

64th Venice International Film Festival

• (2007) Honored—Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

Lacanian Psychoanalysis Prize

• (2010) Won—Alice in Wonderland^[76]

The Order of the Arts and Letters

• (2010) Knighted by Culture Minister of France

Moscow International Film Festival

• (2012) "Golden George" for his contribution to world cinema.

Awards received by Burton films[edit]

Reception[edit]

Critical, public and commercial reception to films Burton has directed as of February 2017.

Books[edit]

• 
  Burton on Burton, edited by Mark Salisbury (1995, revised editions 2000, 2006)


• 
  The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories (1997)


• 
  The Art of Tim Burton, written by Leah Gallo (2009)


• 
  The Napkin Art of Tim Burton: Things You Think About in a Bar, edited by Holly Kempf and Leah Gallo (2015)

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Bassil-Morozow, Helena (2010): Tim Burton: The Monster and the Crowd. Routledge, London,
  ISBN 978-0-415-48971-3 Read Introduction at JungArena.com
  


• Heger, Christian (2010): Mondbeglänzte Zaubernächte. Das Kino von Tim Burton. Schüren, Marburg,
  ISBN 978-3-89472-554-9 Read Excerpts at Libreka.de
  


• Gallo, Leah (2009): The Art of Tim Burton. Steeles Publishing, Los Angeles,
  ISBN 978-1-935539-01-8
  


• Magliozzi, Ron; He, Jenny (2009): Tim Burton. The Museum of Modern Art, New York,
  ISBN 978-0-87070-760-5
  


• Lynette, Rachel (2006): Tim Burton, Filmmaker. KidHaven Press, San Diego, CA,
  ISBN 0-7377-3556-2
  


• Page, Edwin (2006): Gothic Fantasy: The Films of Tim Burton. Marion Boyars Publishers, London,
  ISBN 0-7145-3132-4
  


• Salisbury, Mark (2006): Burton on Burton. Revised Edition. Faber and Faber, London,
  ISBN 0-571-22926-3
  


• Fraga, Kristian (2005): Tim Burton – Interviews. University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, MS,
  ISBN 1-57806-758-8
  


• Odell, Colin; Le Blanc, Michelle (2005): Tim Burton. The Pocket Essentials, Harpenden 2005,
  ISBN 1-904048-45-5
  


• McMahan, Alison (2005): The Films of Tim Burton: Animating Live Action in Contemporary Hollywood. Continuum, New York,
  ISBN 0-8264-1566-0 Read Chapter 3 at FilmsOfTimBurton.com
  


• Smith, Jim; Matthews, J. Clive (2002): Tim Burton. Virgin, London,
  ISBN 0-7535-0682-3
  


• Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew, ed (2013). The Works of Tim Burton: Margins to Mainstream. New York: Palgrave.
  ISBN 978-1-137-37082-2
  


• Woods, Paul A. (2002): Tim Burton: A Child's Garden of Nightmares. Plexus, London,
  ISBN 0-85965-310-2
  


• Merschmann, Helmut (2000): Tim Burton: The Life and Films of a Visionary Director (translated by Michael Kane). Titan Books, London,
  ISBN 1-84023-208-0
  


• Hanke, Ken (1999): Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker. Renaissance Books, Los Angeles,
  ISBN 1-58063-046-4
  

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tim Burton.

• Official website


• 
  Tim Burton on IMDb


• 
  Tim Burton at Rotten Tomatoes